The Supreme Court has reserved judgments in the appeals challenging the governorship elections held on November 11, 2023, in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states.
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A five-member panel of justices, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, announced the decision on Monday after hearing arguments from the involved parties.
Earlier in the proceedings, the panel rejected a request by Muritala Ajaka, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in Kogi State, to have a full panel of seven justices hear his appeal against Governor Usman Ododo.
Ajaka’s counsel, Pius Akubo (SAN), had sought the CJN’s approval for a full panel, citing specific sections of their legal brief.
However, Justice Garba ruled that a five-member panel was sufficient to determine appeals related to governorship elections, given their jurisdictional authority and the time-bound nature of election petitions.
The panel’s decision was supported by Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), who argued against the request and pointed out that the Supreme Court had previously affirmed the sufficiency of a five-member panel for such cases.
The panel also addressed various applications to regularise aspects of the appeals and set a date for the judgments.
In the Imo governorship cases, the Supreme Court dismissed appeals filed by the Accord Party (AP) and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the election of Governor Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for lack of merit.
The court ordered the AP to pay N1 million each to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, and Uzodinma to cover the costs of their responses to the appeal. Similarly, the APM was ordered to pay N2 million each to INEC, APC, and Uzodinma.
The panel had earlier reserved judgment on appeals by the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Athan Achonu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Uzodinma’s election.
Regarding the Bayelsa State appeal, the Supreme Court reserved judgment after hearing arguments from the legal representatives of APC’s Timipre Sylva, Governor Duoye Diri, INEC, and the PDP.
Sylva, represented by Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), requested that the Supreme Court overturn the previous judgments by the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. He argued that the declaration of Diri by INEC as the winner should be invalidated and he should be declared the lawful winner.
In contrast, Governor Diri’s counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), argued that Sylva’s appeal was fundamentally flawed and unsupported by evidence. He maintained that the appeal lacked merit and should be dismissed. This position was echoed by INEC and the PDP, represented by Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), who also argued against the appeal’s validity.
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